Um, so it's been a while.
Since then, I've done like, a year of school and graduated. So that's fun. I'm also on the second draft of this novel I've been working on. It's about superheroes, haha.
I've also kept up with fanfiction but haven't written any in a long time.
But today, someone PMed me with a nice note and I just couldn't let that slide by. (Now, if only these spam reviews would fix themselves...)
Ah, whatever. It makes this one of the most reviewed Pokemon fanfics out there, which is publicity, I guess. x)
My writing style has changed, again, but this chapter was written like a year ago, so you shouldn't be able to tell the difference.
The Trainer
Ash Ketchum.
Kiawe didn't quite understand his new classmate. After all, the trainer hailing from Kanto skipped around Melemele Island—with that goofy grin of his—as if each day was delightfully impeccable. The kid absolutely refused to be let down by anything (seriously, how did he not see how stupid he looked sometimes?!), and even Professor Kukui could see how energetic and…rash he was.
On the other hand, there was something about this 'Ash' character that intrigued him. It was as if the boy was a magnet to people, pulling them close with a strange (but likable) charisma. The Fire-type trainer didn't understand how, but all of his classmates had become instant friends with the Kanto kid as soon as they set eyes on him.
One quick search on the Internet would tell him everything about the guy. It was why he was in the library that afternoon. Kiawe was certain that the kid had traveled before. And if he'd traveled, it was likely that he'd competed in a regional conference.
As he typed the name into the search bar, he became a little doubtful. The first link to come up was a Trainer Profile on a kid named 'Gary Oak' (was he some distant relative of the principal?) and the second was a particularly strange video on PokeTube: a live (at least, it was at the time) broadcast from the Kalos Region. Kiawe began to watch it, but quickly became bored with the camerawoman (what's the deal with that purple-pink hair?) and began to skim through the rest of the five-hour long broadcast. Lumiose City (wow, that place has been totally destroyed)…some Pokemon (woah, that Charizard is black!)…Team Flare ( he was glad he didn't live in Kalos)…some more Pokemon (heh, that one kinda looks like Ash)…some explosions…
He closed out of the video with a sigh and looked at the next link.
"The Unexplained Coordinating World: What Friends Can Do," he read aloud.
What in the name of Solgaleo was 'coordinating?' Mapmaking?
Then he saw the words underneath: 'An article by May Maple, Princess of Hoenn, with the assistance of Dawn Berlitz.'
Kiawe sighed. All he wanted was a simple Trainer Profile or something like that…
The fourth option looked promising.
'Kalos League: Lumiose Conference Finals!' it read. 'Charizard vs. Greninja! Watch video free!'
The Fire-type trainer clicked on the link right away.
"This site is restricted for copyri—oh, come on!" He groaned.
Kiawe scrolled down through many links before he realized that he could've just searched up 'Ash Ketchum Trainer Profile.'
Solgaleo, what was wrong with him?!
Ash Ketchum
Gender: Male
Hometown: Pallet Town
Region: Kanto
Trainer Class: Trainer
Blurb: Ash is an energetic trainer known for his unpredictable and unique strategies that certainly shake up the battlefield!
And that was it.
But that couldn't have been it.
He went back to the search page, clicking on the 'Gary Oak' guy's profile and scrolling down.
Achievements:
Kanto League, Indigo Conference: Top 32
Johto League, Silver Conference: Top 16
Not bad.
But the one thing continued to bother Kiawe: Where were Ash's achievements?!
And the Oak kid's blurb was certainly more than a sentence. In fact, it was half a page long.
Kiawe didn't understand the reason behind his new classmate's surprisingly short profile. If he didn't know any better, he would've just assumed that Ash was a new trainer and had achieved absolutely nothing in his career.
The Fire-type trainer still remembered that Pikachu's Quick Attack, knocking back three Salandit as if they were mere toys.
Quick Attack. According to Kukui, it wasn't a very powerful move. It was usually to finish off opponents expediently, securing a victory before switching out.
'That Pikachu's Thunderbolt could injure my Charizard—badly,' he realized.
He remembered how the kid interrupted his battle against Team Skull.
That expression…
"It's cowardly to gang up on someone like that!" Ash had exclaimed that day.
Cowards…what did he know about that?
It wasn't like he knew what it meant to run away from his problems. It wasn't like he knew what it meant to be too weak for someone else. It wasn't like he knew what it meant to be faced with the decision to protect something he truly believed in.
That trainer was so carefree that it was strange when he wasn't smiling.
Yet, it was oddly…right.
Maybe…just maybe… at one point in his training career, Ash was serious about his decisions.
Maybe, he was only serious when it mattered.
But if that was the case, when did it matter?
Kiawe continued to stare at the empty Trainer profile. Maybe if he—
"Hey, Kiawe. What's going on?" Sophocles asked. At his side, Togedemaru waved cheerfully.
"I'm…researching."
"What?"
"Stuff," he replied.
"Let me see," the kid suggested. Kiawe moved in front of the screen to cover it from the boy's sight, but Sophocles was already typing away on the keyboard.
"Ash, huh?" the orange-haired kid asked.
"I was curious."
"Hmmm. There's stuff missing," he remarked.
"I know," Kiawe replied.
"Yeah, but there's stuff that's blocked."
"Huh?"
"The spacing is different between paragraphs." He took control of the keyboard. "Look. I go to 'Inspect Elements' and scroll down like this…there are literally pages of information that have been blacked out."
"What happened?"
"Someone who's pretty good at computers must've done this," the kid muttered to himself. "I should go home and try to hack it!"
With a swing in his step, the other boy walked away.
A blocked profile. How strange.
And his Pokemon weren't even listed.
He turned back to Oak guy's page.
Frequently-Used Pokemon:
Blastoise
Umbreon
Electivire
Arcanine
Dodrio
Scizor
Fearow
Alakazam
Kingdra
Nidoking
Nidoqueen
Golem
Kiawe smiled a little. That was a nice list of Pokemon. No wonder he was such a good Trainer.
Ash, on the other hand…
Not even Pikachu was mentioned.
Ash mentioned catching a Tauros, right? He was extremely gentle with them. Professionally riding a Pokemon took years of training, yet there was nothing in the kid's profile that said anything about a Tauros.
One thing still bothered him.
Ash had this tone of voice he used on Pokemon that was completely disregarded whenever he was near another human. The guy went on and on and on about catching Pokemon but somehow gave the Fire-type trainer the impression as if he felt that Pokemon—whether they were his or not—were more important than other people.
Sometimes Kiawe could feel the silent conversations between Ash and his Pikachu, as if blinks and smiles could suffice for an hour of conversation. They agreed on everything, too. Whatever Ash did, Pikachu was sure to follow. And it was the other way around, too. Pikachu would run off, and Ash would be close behind (how did that kid run so fast in the first place?), yelling 'Wait up!' and forgetting to even question why his starter would run off.
And the way he spoke to other Pokemon…they didn't even have to be his, but even if one were to do something stupid, Ash wouldn't question it. He got along with the forest Pokemon so well that some part of Kiawe believed that he'd lived with them all his life. The kid loved Pokemon—possibly even more than himself—which was both concerning and heartwarming at the same time.
He turned around from the computer screen, realizing that he'd been staring at the empty search bar for at least a good fifteen minutes.
"Hey, Kiawe!" Sophocles greeted, walking up to him. "I couldn't get by. Whoever blocked this page must be really good at computers."
Someone…better than Sophocles at computers? Who? "Really?" he asked.
"Yeah. But don't worry. I have my viruses up to battle his firewall."
"What are you trying to access?"
"That Kalos League footage. And whatever newscast was after that. I was just on it, and then it got blocked. Boy, this other guy's firewall is strong!"
It was as if someone was trying to stop people from learning about his mysterious friend's past.
"You know, we could just ask him," Sophocles suggested. "I'm sure he'd tell us about his adventures."
Somehow, Kiawe doubted that, but nodded along anyway. He'd deal with it another time.